


It Might Have Been

by AMaskOnTwoFaces



Series: Those Lonely Souls [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Canon-Typical Violence, Harry Potter is apathetic towards human life, Infinity Gems, Insanity, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki wasn't the bad guy in The Avengers, Master of Death, Mind Control, Protective Harry, Tesseract, Vague descriptions of magic, but really just the one, mentions of mental torture, mind magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10987419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMaskOnTwoFaces/pseuds/AMaskOnTwoFaces
Summary: It might have been just another long, boring night.  Nod along to this man, plaster a smile here, fake a laugh there; the usual schmoozing that a high profile figure like himself would be familiar with.Not that any of these muggles actually knew who he was.Harry knew how to walk the walk and talk the talk.  He just needed to go unnoticed long enough for the arrival of—Him, actually.The father of one of Death’s Lieutenants.  That made it personal.





	1. It might have been an exposition

               It might have been just another long, boring night.  Nod along to this man, plaster a smile here, fake a laugh there; the usual schmoozing that a high profile figure like himself would be familiar with.

               Not that any of these muggles actually knew who he was.

               Harry knew how to walk the walk and talk the talk (German, even. Death transcended language, so there was not even the worry of standing out as a Brit here). None of these high class people gave a second thought to the unknown man floating between conversations.  He just needed to go unnoticed long enough for the arrival of—

               Him, actually _._

               Prowling down the grand stair, long coattails billowing, hair slicked back, and a giant stature that just exuded confidence and power.  It was the cane, however, clasped in hand, absolutely _glowing_ with magic, that let Harry know that this was the one, this was the being that Death told him to look for.  The alien god that Thanos was using to retrieve the Space Stone, to create general mayhem and murder in the process of subjugating Earth.

               And also the father of one of Death’s Lieutenants.  That made it personal.

               Speaking of mayhem and murder – _ouch_ – death by eye gouging.  That looks like a slow and painful way to go.  (He hopes he never has to experience dying that way, but who knows, really.  That’s not something he can control most of the time.)

               While most of the guests stampede out, running and screaming like frightened children, Harry throws on his invisibility cloak, stepping out of the stream of people and keeping an eye on his target through the masses.

               Harry follows when the god moves outside and watches the scene, tense and ready to divert large scale attacks should they occur.  But the longer the god rants, the more relieved Harry becomes.  The alien was _purposefully_ stalling.  He was waiting for the American heroes to arrive, and it looks like he was saving the actual violence for then.  Sure, he was putting on a brilliant show of being a mad god, but the only physical strike by the alien thus far had been for the eye, and that had been necessary for the god’s plot.  It meant the alien was not entirely controlled.  He still had some of his mind to himself and was able to play Thanos a little, make it seem like he was cooperating, but also limiting deaths where possible.  Throwing off Thanos’ control of the god should be that much easier if he was consciously capable of assisting Harry’s endeavor to help him.

               An elderly man, foolishly Gryffindor in his defiance, could not be ignored however.  Harry cursed the man—despite how he himself used to act much the same—and waited with bated breath for how the god will respond, for he _has_ to respond; it wouldn’t follow his act otherwise.

               He needn’t have worried, of course.  A metal shield – a _patriotic_ metal shield, held by an equally patriotic man, protected the elderly citizen at the last second.  The god probably planned it to be so, but still, thank Merlin for heroes arriving in the nick of time, even if Harry would appreciate a little less heart strain overall. (Not that it would actually affect him, but still, it was the principle of the matter.)

               A brawl ensued, and Harry passively watched as the Americans, with not much teamwork between them, managed to bring in the god when he gave up.  That was interesting, as Thanos would have noticed that.  So there was a plan that required the god’s (presumably) temporary capture?  Well then, it looked like Harry definitely needed to get in that plane with the heroes. (Was it even a plane? It took off vertically like a helicopter. Who knows? He’ll ask later.)

*             *             *            

               It might have been that Harry hadn’t had much experience with muggles or non-Earth beings, but he wasn’t of high opinion of either.

               What was that? There’s something large on the roof of our small plane thing? (Seriously, what is this machine _called?_ ) Let’s open the door and let the unknown waltz in to steal our dangerous charge from under our noses!

               What’s this?  These pesky humans have my murderous brother chained up and confined in a small space?  That won’t do!  Here, let me take him out into the dark, uninhabited forest where it’s so much easier for him to escape!

               And instead of any attempt at diplomacy, the two sides just brawl each other, leaving the mad god sitting unattended.

               But the god didn’t move.  Not a single twitch towards escape.  He definitely needs inside the heroes’ base.

*             *             *            

               It might have been that once Harry had followed the mad god and the ragtag band of heroes into their base (yet another stupid special flying machine that he doesn’t know what to call), he wasn’t quite sure how to reveal himself to so many armed and dangerous people.  He shrugged to himself, oh well, rip it off like a band-aid and hopefully if he’s killed it’ll be quick.

So once all the heroes were seated, he uncloaked himself, cleared his throat, and was promptly faced with more weapons than he could count and a thick tension in the air.

               Oh. Yeah, that’s a thing.  The Hulk is definitely a thing.  That Harry forgot to account for.  Whoops.

               Luckily, the good doctor just looks a little green around the gills… and eyes.  But no worry, the man’s control is absolutely astounding; Harry might have to take a peek in that mind later to see just how the he does it.  Absolutely phenomenal.

               “Harry Potter?!?” came the incredulous voice of a man wearing too much leather and an eyepatch.  The eyepatch reminded Harry of that poor man back in Germany…

               Harry quirked an eyebrow, “You know me?”

               “What the fuck!?!” the man so eloquently replied.

               Harry’s other eyebrow rose.  How unprofessional.

               “Well I suppose you knowing who I am helps me out.”

               The billionaire broke in, “Uh, hello? Mind informing the rest of who you are? Cause I for one am at a loss. Anyone else?” 

               Harry’s eyes flicked over to the interrupter, then back to the cyclops. 

“What do you want?” the man growled, also ignoring the billionaire.

               Harry sat in one of the chairs at the table, frowning when he realized how terribly uncomfortable they were.  Maybe secret government agencies were spending so much money on unnamable flying contraptions that they couldn’t afford comfortable furniture to fill them with.  Shame.  They needed to get their priorities in order.

               “Well,” Harry drawled, still perfectly aware of how on edge the entire room was, “I came to offer assistance with your little god problem,”

               The man’s eye narrowed, “I was under the impression that your people kept to their own issues.”

               “Your people?” came another interruption, this time from the big blond man with a plan, but also ignored.

               Harry’s eyebrows climbed again.  They were getting quite the workout today.  “Well this issue involves our entire planet, and as you are at a loss when it comes to understanding magic, it seems sensible that at least one of my people assists you.”

               “I wasn’t aware that your people were in contact with you,” the man in too much leather interrogated.

               “They’re not, they’re probably not even aware of this situation,” Harry shrugged.  Things were… weird between him and the Wizarding World once it came out that he was immortal.  He just wanted to be left alone, so alerting the wizards that there might be an alien invasion was not high on his priority list (not to mention that they probably wouldn’t believe him anyways).

               “Then what the fuck are _you_ doing here?  How the fuck did you get your intel?” The director seemed to be even less trusting now.

               “Death told me,” Harry stated calmly.

               …

               Silence.

               “Wait, wait wait—what do you mean ‘death’ told you? And who even _are_ you?  How did you get in here?” the genius asked again.

               “Magic,” was the simple reply.

               “ _Magic?_ ” was the incredulous response.

               “Yes,” Harry answered, “My name is Harry Potter and I’m a wizard.  I come from the Wizarding World; a collection of magic communities hidden throughout Earth,”  Well, no one ever accused him of being tactful.  Bluntness, you are thy name.

               Most of the heroes didn’t know what to do with that.  Maybe they wouldn’t be as helpful as he had first assumed.

               “Are you even human?” the super soldier finally asked.

               “Yes, just... with a little genetic quirk, if you will.”

               “They don’t have the clearance to know this!”

               Harry shot the director down quick, “Too bad.”

               “Fury said that you’re not it contact with the Wizarding World?” the redhead finally spoke up.

               Harry leaned back in his uncomfortable chair, crossing his arms behind his head and making a noise in the back of his throat, “That might be because I’m mistakenly known as the Master of Death.”

               “There is no being greater than Death,” the thunder god stated indignantly.

               “Correct, that’s why I said ‘mistakenly known as’.”

               “Are you one of her Lieutenants, then?” the prince inquired.

               Harry shrugged, “Not really, it’s... complicated.”

               “Then were you sent due to Loki’s status as father of a Lieutenant?” the fellow immortal questioned further, curiosity knotting his brow.

               (“Loki’s a _dad_?” muttered by the genius was once again ignored.)

               “No.  That made it personal, but no. I would be here regardless.  I was sent to help you free your brother of the control Thanos has on his mind,” Harry proclaimed.

               He was met with a wall of confusion.

               “Really? None of you see it? Not even you, his brother of a millennia?” Harry asked, turning towards the thunder god, who ducked his head in embarrassment, even while his eyes went wide with fear and hope.  Harry sighed. “You brother’s not just mind controlling people, he _is_ mind controlled.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments and Kudos!
> 
> This is my first multi-chapter attempt, and also my first attempt at anything resembling a plot. Unlike my other stories that I have in the works, I do not have a true plan of where this is going to, just a vague idea of what's happening next. I probably won't drag it out very long; it may only be a two-shot. It may also take a while for the next part to get put into writing, it might not. Who knows? I'm definitely a 'go with the flow' type of person. 
> 
> This is also my first attempt at writing humor, but I tend to misjudge what's funny or not, so please let me know what you think!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. It might have been the rising action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [It might have been…]
> 
> …
> 
> [It might…]
> 
> …
> 
> …
> 
> He fell so far.

               It might have been that Harry wasn’t expecting to convince the band of heroes so quickly, but he was soon marched down to where they were holding the trickster god (and Merlin, wasn’t that still a rather applicable description for the alien).

               Harry entered the room alone (a fact that had taken some convincing—the cyclops was still staring him down even as he walked through the door, all ‘I have my eye on you’ and whatnot) and the head of the tortured god snapped up immediately, gaze locking with his.  The god’s eyes narrowed, a little curious, a lot mistrustful.  Harry’s lip quirked.  The god had many reasons to be guarded; Harry was an unknown factor to him after all.

               Thankfully the alien wasn’t prepared enough to avoid eye contact.  Wasting no time, Harry muttered, “ _Legilimens_ ,” and fell in.

*             *             *

               …

               [It might have been…]

               …

               [It might…]

               …

               …

               He fell so far.

               Broken images.  Sounds, muffled and distorted.

               Falling.  Still falling.

               Memories rushing past.  Are they real?  Who would tamper with them? Who would DARE—

               Falling.  Never going to land.  Doomed to fall forever.  Trapped in eternity with only his mind.  His _mind_.  Everything disintegrating with time.  No.  With pain?

               _Agony_

_BLUE_

_blueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblueblue_

               …

               Not blue.  It’s… dark?

               Feels safe.

               [It’s alright now.  I’m here to help.]

               WHO? Who would DARE? His _mind_. It’s not safe, never safe.  Doesn’t want this, never wanted this, just wanted it all to _end_.  Never enough.  Doomed to fail.  Doomed to fall.  Always.  Always always always.

               His _mind_.  What happened?  What _is_ happening?  What _will_ happen?  Time.  WHEN?  No.  That’s not what is wanted.  WHAT?  Yes?  No.  WHAT is wanted, but not first.  WHO?  Yes.

               WHO?

               [I am Harry.]

               Harry?  That is not familiar.  Is unfamiliar good?  Is it bad?  Is it _safe_?

               [I am here to help.  I want to help.  I want to make you safe.]

               He wants that too, but he’s not good enough, never good enough.

               [Just because you don’t meet one person’s standards doesn’t mean that you’re a failure at everything.]

               He is a _monster_.  He is—

               [Monster is relative.  You’re just another alien to me.]

               He is… he is good enough for Harry?

               [Yes.]

*             *             *

               It might have been difficult to separate his consciousness from the god’s at first.  It was just so _vast_ compared to all the humans he’s seen.  None of his previous experiences had prepared him for such an immense mind.  With how _new_ and _young_ Harry is, he might have the power, but he lacks the experience and the skill that comes with age.  He didn’t know how to prepare himself for entering a millennium-old mind.  He almost lost his minuscule self within it.

               And the _blue_.  Running through everything.  Keeping all the pieces fractured and scared and alone.  It was the blue he had to wash out first.  The blue had to be gone before the silvertongued god (or what’s left of the silvertongue) could even _consider_ communication.  He had seemed better before, in Germany.  Perhaps the isolated imprisonment on this flying machine (which he _still_ doesn’t have a name for) had damaged him further.  Perhaps being idle had let the blue grow, take over more, fracture more.

               Regardless.  Thanos was out of the god’s mind now, hopefully for good.  The god had accepted his help, his assistance and support.  Things could move forward from here.

               Harry did his best to gently disentangle himself from the alien mind.  The god wasn’t helping by clutching at him like a small child, fearful of his departure.

               Finally, though, he resurfaced, blinking back into orientation with physical space.  The god was still staring.  Pale now, shaking, with the whites of his eyes flashing wide.  Harry spared a small smile, gentle and calm, and stepped forward to release the cell door, catching the god when the giant immediately collapsed onto him, letting the weight carry them both to the floor.

               “Who,” croaked the god, “What?”

               Harry thread fingers through the god’s hair, trying to give any comfort he could, “Shh.  It’s alright.  I’ve got you.  You’re safe now.”

               The god gave a small whine, high and terrified, but almost imperceptible to even Harry, huddled close and curled around the god as he was.

               “I’m going to put you to sleep now, rest your mind a bit, alright?”

               The god started shaking worse, probably fearing to be alone again, but gave a slight nod, able to think enough for himself to recognize what he needed.

               Harry placed a hand on the giant’s temple and whispered, “I’ll try to be with you when you wake,” as peace finally came to the god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got rather dark. I wasn’t originally intending to go such a depressing route. Whoops.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for taking such interest in this story! I think I’m starting to get a better idea of where this is going. It’s looking like it might be 5 or 6 parts long, but once again I don’t have a very specific plan for this story. I also grossly underestimated how seeing people’s interest in my work would inspire me to continue the story quickly. 
> 
> Once again, thank you all for reading, and feel free to leave Kudos or comments!


	3. It might have been another rising action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Best case scenario: everyone is currently free (mildly confused, possibly horrified, but free). 
> 
> Worst case scenario: Thanos now has control over the human minions, knows that he lost the giant, knows that he’s a known factor, and is now redoubling his efforts of attack. 
> 
> Or worse: Thanos has all of the above, and is now changing his entire plan.
> 
> That last scenario sounds bad. Just, really bad.

It might have been just a tad difficult to locate the rogue archer that the redheaded assassin and the deceivingly bland man cared so much about.

The Space Stone was being located through technology, but if the archer and the stone weren’t together, it would be near impossible to guess where he would be.  Bad news bears for the spies and heroes in that case.

Unfortunately, Harry was decently sure that he had removed Thanos’ control from the mind of _only_ the trickster god.  The staff had been used to connect all the minds of the human minions through Thanos’ power, but the trickster god was the only one who had had the access to control them.  So, now that the god is disconnected from the network, the minions have no one to give them new orders, but they’ll still be following through with any and all pre-existing orders.

Er, well, that’s the assumption anyways.  Hopefully.

Otherwise, best case scenario: everyone is currently free (mildly confused, possibly horrified, but free). 

Worst case scenario: Thanos now has control over the human minions, knows that he lost the giant, knows that he’s a known factor, and is now redoubling his efforts of attack. 

Or worse: Thanos has all of the above, and is now changing his entire plan.

That last scenario sounds bad.  Just, _really bad_.  There is no guessing what the objectives of a new plan would be.  Continue with the invasion plans?  Thanos himself comes over?  The Space Stone is secreted away across the universe without anyone here the wiser?  What would Thanos consider most important?  What new variables would he add?  No matter what, if Thanos knows that the trickster god has been removed from the network and is gaining assistance from the humans to foil the invasion, things would get really, _really_ bad.

Unpredictability is always bad.

However, Harry thinks he’s right.  (He hopes he is.  He better be.).  So he’s going to operate as if his first assumption is correct; the minions are still in the network, but are only operating under standing orders.  (He’s usually right.  It’s that gut instinct that tells him this once more.)  And hopefully, fingers crossed, Thanos hasn’t noticed anything yet.

Of course, having access to a minion’s mind to verify that he’s right would put him at ease, but that probably won’t until they find the Space Stone, at the very least.

*             *             *

It might have been that they found the Space Stone and got to it faster than Harry was expecting.  That might be due to the fact that the Space Stone came to them.

Yep.  Minions are still a thing.

Also: Thanos’ staff can create a rather volatile atmosphere.  Harry had walked in the room only moments before, quite gobsmacked over how angry the spies and heroes all were with each other (are they not a team?).  Saw how much they feared the Hulk, how little they respected the doctor’s control over it.  Saw how much the thunder god degraded humans.  Couldn’t he at least _pretend_ to care?  And what was the point of Harry coming to them for assistance if they were just going to bicker the entire time?  They’re not even attempting to be useful!  Do they even realize how _difficult_ it is for him to—

Oh.  Hello there emotionally-charged magic.  You’re looking a little angry over there where you’re seeping from that staff.  Damn.  Rookie mistake, getting caught up in ambient magic.

Harry was going to alert the others of this, but that’s when the signal came that the Space Stone had come to them.

And that’s also about when they started falling from the sky.

(Harry still doesn’t know the name of this flying contraption.  He really should just ask.)

So Harry ran back to the room where he had left Lo—  _the trickster god_ (Merlin he’s really slipping today).  There was no doubt that it was anyone other than the minions attacking; anyone else would have had the alarm raised before the attack hit.  So that left two theories.  One: the minions are acting on an existing order to take back the trickster god to start the invasion.  He had come in willingly; he would have most definitely had a plan to get out.  That plan probably had the side note of taking down any heroes now if it’s possible.  Heroes should be able to handle themselves, so Harry’s not going to bother worrying over them.  Two: Thanos has control over the minions, and the only reason he isn’t immediately taking down the flying contraption (that he _needs_ the name of) is because he first wants to get the god back to torture and most likely kill as punishment for his failure or betrayal (and in Thanos' mind, the difference between failure and betrayal probably means little but the intensity of the punishment).

Either theory meant that Harry should be with the god, but please, please be the first one.  Minions acting on existing orders just means hunting down each one to free their minds.  Option two means all-out war.  Option two means Thanos will need to feel _death_.

*             *             *

It might have been that the trickster god was still asleep right where he had been placed earlier; on a cot in random residential quarters.  Harry wasn’t sure if his continued state of consciousness was going to be a good thing or bad thing, but he’s sure to find out soon.

Speaking of.  There’s a feeling awfully similar to the _blue_ that he had pushed from the god’s mind earlier.  Several spots of it, heading this way.  Huh.  It seems like he can sense the minions now that he has a grasp on what the network feels like.

And.. yep.  They’re stopping at this door; they’ve figured out where their quasi-leader is.

Harry slid his wand into his hand.

Wait for it.

…

The door flew open at last, guns leading the minions in as they swarmed the room, checking it over and falling into mild confusion when they concluded that no one was present.

Harry flicked his eyes to the cot.  The trickster had cancelled his illusion, now the bed looked as it actually is; empty, and made up with military precision.  He turned to the corner where the god truly stood, invisible under a spell of some sort, and smirked under his own disillusionment charm.

Several spells were flicked towards the baffled minions as they turned to leave, originating from both magic users and felling the agents with little violence.

Harry addressed the god, “So was the illusion setup for me, or were you anticipating the arrival these guests?”  He started heading towards the minion he had left awake, giving the god some visual privacy.

“It is a method I use to gather info on those around me.  It can be beneficial to see how people act when they don’t think you can hear them,” A non-answer then, but still surprisingly informative.  The god was probably giving it in return for Harry going along with the his existing ploy for dealing with the conflict, for Harry trusting that the trickster knew what he was doing and could handle himself.

“Mmm.  I _was_ truly expecting you to still be asleep.  I’m pretty sure you need more rest still.”

The god hesitated, “I find myself unable to rest further until I’m certain that I’m… safe.”

“What, you don’t trust me?”

“I lack confidence in your ability to protect both your planet _and_ myself from The Mad Titan.”

Harry glanced over, gaze narrowed, “You will not be sacrificed for the ‘greater good’.  Let me tell you, bunch of rubbish that is.”

The god’s face blanked.  Positive sign?  Maybe.  Trouble expressing emotions that can be seen as weak or vulnerable?  Definitely.

Harry continued, “But I will trust your judgement when you say that you can’t sleep more until you know you’re safe from Thanos.”

The god flinched, “Don’t say his name!” he hissed, eyes casting about furtively.

“Trust me,” Harry placated, crouching down, “I’m perfectly fine saying his name, the same taboos don’t apply to me.”

“But there are other taboos that do apply?”  Ooo, he’s good.

Harry grimaced, “It’s more of a curse than a taboo, but basically yes.  Now give me a mo, I need to do some reconnaissance,” There was no reply from the god, “Alright then, _Legilimens_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I most definitely was pacing around my living room muttering to myself at 2am last night like some crazy person while I talked through where each of the characters were during the attack on the Helicarrier and how Loki not being in his cell to escape would affect them. Surprisingly few were changed, but I still gave myself quite a headache trying to keep track of eleven characters plus random brainwashed minions. I did not take into account how difficult so many characters would be when I started this story.
> 
> On the bright side, Loki doesn’t kill Coulson! Yay! (Although, “So that’s what it does,” is a fucking good quote)
> 
> Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments and Kudos!


	4. It might have been the final rising action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “No!” Harry hissed, surging at the thunder god, “He doesn’t want to see you! He doesn’t want to talk to you! Respect his bloody wishes! You still calling yourself his brother shows that you’re ignorant to his pain and dismissive of his problems!”

It might have been—well, no.  It _was_ disconcerting for Harry to be brought back to the physical world by a sudden bellow.

His eyes flew open, still not quite aware of his surroundings.  He whirled around, ready to face an attack.  When he noticed that it was just the massive form of the thunderer that filled the doorway, however, he lowered his guard.

Said god was being true to his descriptor, “Loki?” he thundered again, at a slightly lower volume than the previous roar.  His eyes cast about the room while his blond brow scrunched with confusion.

Harry looked around as well, coming to an understanding once he noticed that the trickster god wasn’t in sight, “It seems that he doesn’t want to talk to you right now, thunderer,” he sighed, getting up and approaching the god.

“Where is he?  How fares he?”

“He’s fine.  Perfectly safe.”

Thor stepped forward, “I wish to see him!”

“No.  He doesn’t want you to,” Harry crossed his arms.

“I am his brother!”

“No!” Harry hissed, surging at the thunder god, “He doesn’t want to see you!  He doesn’t want to talk to you!  Respect his _bloody_ wishes!  You still calling yourself his brother shows that you’re ignorant to his pain and dismissive of his problems!”  Harry dropped his voice, “Maybe you should go and think long and hard on why he let go of that spear back on the Bifrost.”

And with that, Harry shoved the shocked god out the door (heh, _shocked_ ), slammed it shut and warded it to an inch passed its life. 

He deflated then, letting the tension out with a long exhale, and set his forehead on the door.

After a while, a soft, “Thank you,” came from behind him.

Harry smiled.

*             *             *

It might have been that Harry’s foray into the minion’s mind brought about some good news:

“The Titan does not know that I am no longer under his control?”

Harry shrugged, “As far as I can tell, yeah.  Minions being removed from the network should just appear to him as decreases of power.  I don’t believe he can tell why his power decreases in usage, or even who it was being used on in the first place.  He shouldn’t be able to differentiate you leaving the network from losing a group of minions.”

“Then would he have access to more of his power with the more people leaving the network?”

“Yes?” Harry grimaced, “But unfortunately I don’t believe he was diverting all that much of his power to the network in the first place.  It honestly didn’t seem like he was paying all that much attention to it anyways.”

“That might be due to me contacting him using the connection the network had with his power.  He had no reason to oversee the network himself.” The silvertongue paused and swallowed, “However, he will soon grow suspicious at my lack of communication.”

“He’ll get more suspicious if a bunch of people start getting pulled out of the network.”

The god looked up, “What are you proposing?”

“Cut everyone out of the network.  Cut off his access to anyone here.  Get rid of his opportunity to get any information from the minions before it even crosses his mind to do so.  Thanos’ll be confused over the sudden loss of the network.  He’ll know something else is at play, but he won’t know who or what.  He won’t know if you’ll be going against him or not.  If we can get him hesitant, it’ll buy us time.”  (Or it’ll make Thanos angry and everyone will be doomed.  Harry, however, wasn’t going to voice that option out loud.)

“We would have to dismantle the network near at once for us to not chance him attempting to gain insight soon as we start the process,” the god pressed.

Harry grinned, “I think I saw a way to take down the entire network from the inside.  It should simultaneously pull everyone out.”

The god looked horrified, “Inside?  As in…”

“No no no no,” Harry was quick to correct, “I’ll just need access to the mind of someone who’s in the network,” he motioned to the unconscious minions, still piled on the floor, “I’ll probably use one of them.  I don’t need to be part of the network myself.  It’ll take a while for me to weasel in before I can tear it apart though, so are there any other plans that your ex-minions have orders to carry out in the next couple hours?  I don’t want to be interrupted.  How much do you even remember of your time under Thanos?”

The god gave a little self-deprecating smile, turned his face away, and whispered, “Everything.  I remember everything.”  He stilled for a minute, just staring into nowhere. 

Harry chose to not comment on the sudden show of emotion, knowing that pressing upon it would just cause the giant to draw himself further away.  He was being trusted an awful lot as it was.

The god finally took a moment to gather himself before turning back, face perfectly blank.  Head tilting, he gave a considering hum, “We will need the skills of the heroes to assist us with what the plans were next.”  He stood up, “Come.”

They made to leave the room, but just before he reached the door, the god paused.

“Thank you.  Again,” he said softly, “For… earlier.  With Thor.  What you did was not necessary.”

Harry stepped up to embrace the god from behind, “Yes,” he spoke into the giant’s back, “Yes it was necessary.  Your opinions and desires matter.  _You_ matter.  I enjoy being able to help.” 

Harry clung on for a while longer, ignoring the stiffness of the giant’s body, and attempted to become an empath through sheer force of will.  He wanted to transfer the feelings of love and care to the being he held in his arms, and he hoped at least some of his intent was coming across, even if he wasn’t able to literally push the emotions over.

Finally, the god cleared his throat, stepping away.  “Shall we?” he intoned, quietly.

Harry let his arms fall.  “Right,” he said, equally subdued, and they stepped into the hall together.

*             *             *

It might have been that Harry and the trickster missed out on a lot while they were locked up in their little room.

By the time the two magic users went searching for them, the heroes had all reconvened in quarters just down the hall.

The thunder god was the first Harry noticed when he stepped inside.  Hands pressed together before his mouth, eyes cast down to a random corner, the prince was obviously brooding.  The almost literal dark cloud hanging over his brow vanished immediately following Harry and the trickster’s entrance.  He opened his mouth with glee on his face, paused with a frown, and tried a different address for his not-brother.  “Loki,” he uttered politely.

The other heroes stilled at the name, tensing where they were gathered further in the room, but Harry ignored their skittishness long enough to give the thunderer a nod to approve his change in approach.

Turning towards the heroes, it was a surprise to find the archer standing among them.  The trickster made no indication on whether this surprised him, and instead stared resolutely forward, letting Harry take the lead to start with (and letting the heroes get used to his presence so their words would be taken with less suspicion).

Harry decided to start off with the most immediately pressing, “So is this flying contraption no longer falling from the sky?”

There was as slight hesitation from the group before the genius stepped forward, blustering, “Yeah, yeah, Gramps and I took care of that a while ago.  Teamwork and all that,” he waved his hand dismissively.  The super soldier looked mildly disgruntled at the nickname, but didn’t deign to comment.  “The _better_ news is that we got a little birdy back,” he motioned towards the archer, “Nothing like a little cognitive recalibration to get your mind back,” he said with a rap against his head.

Harry’s eyebrows shot up.  That sounded rather crude, and had a high possibility of causing more damage than good.  Regardless, the need for that method would be eliminated as soon as Harry tore the network apart.  (And the genius _still_ didn’t give Harry the name of this flying machine, damn.)

However… “Where’s the good doctor?”

The thunder god’s corner darkened a little more.

The redhead answered for him, “The explosion… it caused Banner to transform into the Hulk.”

The thunder god took over, head hanging slightly, “I battled the beast, until an aircraft came and fired upon him.  He jumped and took the craft to the ground, himself along with it.  I do not doubt that he lives, but there is no telling where it was he came to land.”

Harry nodded in understanding.  It was unfortunate—he rather liked the man.  However, there were more pressing matters than a missing berserker. 

“We bring news ourselves,” he said, turning towards the trickster.

The god took the lead seamlessly, giving a slight nod before moving towards the heroes.

“I no longer hold sway over the people who were under my control,” he dipped his head towards the archer as example, who bristled at the reminder, “Without intervention, like with your hawk, they will be continuing with the orders I had already given.”

“Like this attack,” the captain interrupted.

“Like this attack,” the trickster confirmed.

The genius followed up, “So, what’s next? You know all their moves, right?”

The god _smirked_ , “They will be building a portal on the top of your own tower, Man of Iron.  If it is not prevented, the Chitauri will be using it as a launching point for their invasion.”

Well, there went the non-threatening act.  That lasted a whole two minutes.

“Son of a bitch!” the billionaire exclaimed, glaring at the trickster.

“Indeed,” the god returned, “Which is why I figured you would be amicable to assisting me in preventing this occurrence.”

“Just you?” the captain questioned, looking over at Harry.

Harry gave a bland smile, “I’ll be spending the next couple of hours wiggling into the depths of the mind-controlling network and shutting it down.  I just need you all to make sure it won’t be in vain.”

The captain nodded, looking around at the ragtag heroes, “We can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that this was more entertaining than the previous chapter. I do apologize for how little occurred in Chapter 3, but it was necessary for myself to figure out what I was doing with this story.
> 
> Also, sorry for taking so much longer to get this chapter posted than the others. The team I work for and the one I volunteer for are finally starting their summer activities. Needless to say, I'll have real life things that will need my time now, so it'll probably be another week before the next chapter is posted.
> 
> As always, feel free to leave comments and Kudos!


	5. It might have been the climax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a collective holding of breath as all the minions waited for the answer. Were they about to open the portal?
> 
> The trickster was maybe too trusting of Harry’s skills here.

It might have been a more intense experience than Harry was anticipating, being in the depths of the mental network stringing several dozen human minds together.  It was not as vast as the trickster’s mind, but the sheer number of voices created quite a cacophony of noise:

[Loki sighted—]

[—orders—?]

[—in position for—]

[—on Man at—!]

[—Selvig ready?]

That name sounded familiar.  Wasn’t that the scientist that was lost to Thanos?

There was no reason to check, though, and Harry focused on his task; picking his way around all the thoughts and communication in hopes that he would go unnoticed.  Just a spider weaving through another’s web, ghosting around the strands to keep his presence unknown.

[Get to—]

[—see—]

[—over by—]

[—nth street—]

[—sky.  When—]

[—here?]

[—Quinjet appro—]

Ooo, that was the name of a thing.  An important thing.  

Harry looked for the visual that the previous voice provided, spying the helicopter/plane mixture that he had boarded to get to the heroes’ base after the skirmish in Germany.  That was finally one name for the weird flying machines, but having the name of the flying base would probably be more useful.

(He tested the sound of the name within the safety of his own thoughts, burning it into memory.)

(He ignores that he is not strong enough to call objects.)

[Who—?]

[—gers!—]

[—no Banner—]

[—prep for—]

[—open portal?]

There was a collective holding of breath as all the minions waited for the answer.  Were they about to open the portal?  Harry took the opportunity to dig his way further in while connections between the minions were still for once.  Regardless of what was occurring in the physical world, Harry was not at a place to help there.  No, the best he could do was the completion of his appointed task.  Once the network was down, there would be less enemies to focus on.

[No.  Loki wants Avengers worn down first.  Hold on the portal.]

A pause, and the incessant noise started again.

[There’s been—?]

[—orders—]

[—change to—]

[—when team—]

[—ready?]

[—need confi—]

[—mark.]

[Come to—]

[Engage in—]

[—round by—]

[—eet, bring—]

[—one. Mark!]

It was an interesting tactic, Harry mused as he burrowed deeper into the network, the trickster was sending the minions to ‘wear down’ the heroes before he theoretically opened the portal, buying everyone more time.  It could be seen as a legitimate battle stratagem; wear down the strongest before you even bring your army in, but this way it might be possible to fully prevent the opening of the portal.  However, it was rather curious that the minions would still take orders from the god even when he wasn’t in the network anymore.

It was also a little worrying that minions were about to start getting knocked out of the network at a rather fast rate, as it gave Harry less time to shut everything down before Thanos would deign to check in himself.  The trickster was maybe _too_ trusting of Harry’s skills here.

*             *             *

It might have been that the overlapping voices had started to fade once Harry got far enough into the network.  He had entered the true guts of the place now, and felt like he was surrounded by a clammy warmth, one that he had to squeeze his way through.  He kept finding patches that were sticky and slimy and clingy and had to patiently extract himself from them, careful not to fight and jostle the network as he made his way further in. 

Guts were a very apt description at this point.

The going was slow, and Harry honestly had no idea where he was trying to go from here.  It was only instinct that kept him pushing further and further in.  Instinct that kept him sliding through gooey tubes as they shifted with life around him.

He gave another push, and suddenly was birthed into an empty space within the guts, finding only a glowing center of blue ahead of him now.  It was a heart.  _The_ heart.  The heart of the network. 

Pulsating with power, this was no doubt the direct connection to Thanos.  The sickly blue that Harry remembered all too well from his previous mental excursions was seeping out.  Lines of it snaked into the walls of the guts like veins; feeding the network its power and keeping all it touched ensnared within its grasp.

At this point the warmth of the guts had become a near suffocating heat, choking the metaphorical breath out of Harry’s incorporeal person, but he drew closer to the heart none the less.  This was what he had to disconnect from Thanos.  Cut out the heart and the network will die. 

The question was how.

Well.  When in doubt, call up your inner Gryffindor; try something rash and hope the consequences aren’t too terrible.  (Consequences, what consequences?)

Harry reached out to touch the heart—maybe he could see how it was connected?—and was promptly swallowed whole.

*             *             *

It might have been that Harry wasn’t expecting such severe consequences for his actions.

Oh, who was he kidding?  Things like this always happened.

However, he might be able use this to his advantage.  Maybe a closer proximity will help with—

Thanos was looking right at him.  Was physically present just in front of Harry, and was very, very aware of Harry’s existence.

Was Harry in the physical world again?  He patted his chest—yep, that’s a body.  Was is _his_ body?  He felt for the scar.  That’s another affirmative. 

Did he somehow bring Thanos to Earth?  A quick look around—nope.  They were both on a random rock floating in space.  They seemed to be the _only_ ones on a random rock floating in space, but Harry really wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

His attention was brought back to the titan before him when the gravely voice spoke out,

“You seem to have been lurking through places no ally would dare touch,” the massive head tilted and anger swept through his visage, “You dare challenge me?” he snarled, rising from his throne.

Oh, Harry was _so_ out of his depth here.  A duel with Thanos was imminent, and while Harry might be an immortal capable of taking on several dozen humans no sweat, he was still very young and _very_ out of his league here.  There were fates worse than death, and losing here would no doubt bring those upon him.

“Er.  Well.  Thanos, you see…”

And the titan stumbled in his approach.

Oh.

Yes.

Proximity does help.

Harry took his newly discovered advantage and threw himself to the wolves.  To hell with tact!  He was going to pour every ounce of power he had into this. 

It would probably be his only chance.

“Thanos.  Thanos,” Harry called.  The titan’s face blanched, feet frozen where he stood.  Harry let himself fall deeper into the mindset, let his magic do what it knew how to do.

“Thanos, come to me.  Death is calling you, Thanos.”

The titan fell to his knees, chest jerking and pure agony written across his face.  Harry prowled towards the fallen king, death-tinted magic dripping off his tongue at every word.

“Come now, Thanos,” he purred, curling his fingertips under the titan’s chin, lifting his head so their eyes could meet.  He stared through to the titan’s soul, willing it to him, “Let the world go.  Just come to me, Thanos.”

He could see it now, the vivid translucency of the soul as it started to separate, pulling towards Harry.

“Good,” he praised, leaning forward to murmur in the titan’s ear as a choked cry escaped his prey’s lips, “That’s it, Thanos, follow my call.”

The body under his hand was convulsing, and he dug his fingertips into the flesh to keep his grasp on the titan’s face.  He pulled back enough to view it, mildly fascinated at the play of peace and fear and awe and confusion.  He took a second, enthralled by the conflict of emotions felt by someone greeted by death. 

A second, enthralled by something he would never know himself.

It was a second to his opponent’s advantage.

At Harry’s distraction, Thanos’ soul fled back into his body, realigning itself and returning some mild functionality to the titan.  He shoved Harry away, his uncoordinated arms fueled by terror and anguish that propelled Harry across the clearing; a mixture of magic and strength flinging him into a sharp outcropping rising from the surface of their rocky battlefield.  Bones shattered on impact, and Harry fell limply to the ground, gasping for breath.  He coughed wetly as he rolled over, tasting blood on his tongue as he attempted to bring his eyes back into focus.

Thanos was up, looming steadily closer as he built power around him.  It swarmed in waves and eddies, growing greater with every step, every breath.  The titan’s eyes were filled with blind rage and a deep-rooted fear of the unknown, an instinctual response meant to protect him, meant to let him survive this scrape with death.

“You dare play with death?” Thanos snarled, almost upon him now, “You dare play with forces beyond your reach?”

Harry didn’t deign that with an answer, instead pulling himself up, pulling himself together: physically, magically, mentally.  He took a breath and opened his eyes.

He Focused.

He Saw.

He _Called_.

 

 

 

And Thanos’ soul came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A month! What is this trickery?
> 
> So sorry to leave you all hanging for so long! To make up for it, the story will be finished today!
> 
> Thank you all so much for your Kudos, and another big thank you to all who have left comments! These have helped me so much with refining and focusing my story!
> 
> Just the epilogue left; thank you all for sticking with me!


	6. It might have been the epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stillness left behind was deafening.

It might have been that Thanos’ body had collapsed immediately, falling to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut.  The power that had swirled around him snapped into nothingness the instant his soul left.

The stillness left behind was deafening.

Harry coughed, blood welling up from inside him with every breath; wheezing through his airways and dripping from his mouth

The injury felt true on multiple levels—he was damaged goods inside.  He had poison in his lungs.  He spat death from his mouth.

Harry hung his head.

*             *             *

It might have been that he didn’t know what to do now that Thanos had passed on.  Harry sat there for hours, choking slightly as his back pressed painfully against the unforgiving rock, telling himself that it was only the blood that was clogging his throat. 

He let himself focus internally on the magic pushing his ribs back together, knitting up his organs.  His eyes staring unseeingly towards the body of the Mad Titan.  When does anyone ever know what to do once they’ve murdered a megalomaniac?

(It might have been that ‘megalomaniac’ was never a fact, always an opinion, and Harry felt every death like a sucker punch to his own soul, tattered and immobile as it was now.)

*             *             *

It might have been that Loki looked up when it was all over, lifting his face to the stars above while the city lay burning at his feet.

He told himself it was just the smoke that made his eyes burn.

*             *             *

It might have been that the battle left him victorious, isolated, and alone. 

He had never been so alone before.

(He was always alone.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes. This isn’t the ending where everyone gets hugs (which I wanted). My muse was a dick, since Harry wasn’t supposed to leave Earth in the first place (the confrontation was supposed to happen across Thanos’ connection to the network), but I did feel that this worked better. Therefore, there will be a sequel. (I literally decided this as I was writing the final chapter.) It will probably just be a one shot, but there is also a possibility for it to grow into more.
> 
> Also, looking back: I had started this piece as an attempt to be light and humorous with an overpowered BAMF!Harry and a couple of darker undertones. The Dark Side definitely won this battle. Landslide victory, really. Not to mention how far I ended up humanizing characters; Harry might be overpowered for a human wizard, but he's not exactly okay with these powers.
> 
> As always, though, feel free to leave comments and Kudos!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


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